My Friend The Terrorist

"To defeat this enemy, you have to understand them," claims Noor Huda Ismail, launching a book that details his own journey from radical Islam to religious tolerance. In "My Friend, the Terrorist", Noor argues that only through open dialogue with religious extremists, and delinking religion from terrorism, can we ever hope to recover our common humanity.

At the Ubud Readers & Writers Festival in Bali, Ismail spoke with South-East Asian journalist and author Michael Vatikiotis about his experiences growing up with one of the Bali Bombers and the banning of his book by Bali authorities. Ismail also heavily criticised the media for what he calls "judging the dark" instead of "shining a light on the dark qualities".

Noor Huda Ismail is a reform activist and Vice President of "Sekurindo Global Consulting", an international security advisory firm based in Jakarta, Indonesia. He was formerly a foreign correspondent for "The Washington Post" and a research analyst at the Institute of Defense and Security Studies at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His book "My Friend, the Terrorist" details his first-hand insights of the root causes of terrorism.

Michael Vatikiotis has lived and worked in South-East Asia for over two decades as a journalist and author. His books include "Political Change in Southeast Asia" and "Indonesian Politics Under Suharto". He currently serves as a Research Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.